Book and Website Reviews

1.      www.Ldonline.org

A website like LDonline.org is a great site to find out the basics, and maybe even a little more, about ADHD.  The topic options range anywhere from “What is ADHD” to “Your ADHD Child and School”. Whichever topic is chosen to be read, is anywhere from 1 to 4 pages long. They are also filled with meaningful and to the point information. Each article is written in a way that anyone from any profession would be able to easily understand what they are reading.  Then at the end of each article there is a see also section where it can direct the reader to other sites which may also be of interest. This website would be a great tool for parents that are new to the fact that their child has ADHD.  If the parent doesn’t have a lot of time to research then this site provides easy reads with great information. It also covers all the things a parent may want to immediately know such as: what ADHD is, what causes it, who makes the diagnosis and how, what are the symptoms, treatments, and more. This site is also good for teachers and parents who want to dig in and do more research. They can do this by venturing onto other links which LDonline.org has provided. There even is a section on the side that say “especially for”, where the reader may choose to click on either educators or parents. This will give them access to more information.

2.      www.help4adhd.org

            This is a really good site for parents of an ADHD child of any age. It discusses the symptoms of ADHD, how it is assessed, the medication used, the behavior of an ADHD child, and has live chats with doctors who can answer your questions. This site also provides the education rights. Another group of people that would benefit from this site would be adults with ADHD. There is a section just for adults with ADHD, which tells how ADHD might be diagnosed for their age group. This section also covers topics such as: driving with ADHD and laws about carrying ADHD medications around. If this site doesn’t answer questions someone might have, then they provide a phone number or a request form so that they can get answered.

3.       www.ada.gov

            This is the U.S. Department of Justice’s American’s Disability Act website. This site is great for administration and parents mainly due to the fact that there is a copy of the Disability Rights Law available, and it deals with the legal side of ADHD. The administration of a school can make sure they are following the law and the parents can see what their child is entitled to. The copy of the rights is available in 9 different languages including Spanish. This site also contains a list of federal agencies with ADA (American Disability Act) responsibilities. There is a side note.  The only problem I found with this site is that it doesn’t exactly tell you which section covers ADHD. After doing some research through another site (www.disabilityrights.org), I found that ADHD is primarily covered by Section 504.  This site also contains a list of ADA designated investigative agencies for every state. This is where someone would go to file a complaint if they thought a government funded educational program was not following section 504.

4.       www.nichcy.org

            This is a website for teacher and parents. It gives a very short story of a boy with ADHD. It portrays how his teachers and parents worked together to find what worked for him, and how successful they were together. Following the story, information about ADHD is provided. Some topics that are covered include: what is ADHD, how common is it, what are the signs, and treatments. This site provides only little snippets of information, so it may not be as valuable as other resources available. It would be a site for someone who needs to know a little bit about ADHD quickly. At the bottom of the ADHD section, there are a few good tips for parents and teacher who deals with children with ADHD.

5.      http://www.ed.gov/

This is a phenomenal website for parents and teachers. The ADHD section is broken up into 2 smaller sections. The first is “identifying and treating ADHD”. This includes an introduction to ADHD (what it is), how they use medical and educational evaluations to diagnose, a list of different treatment options, how ADHD can affect school performance, and tips for home and school. The 2^nd section is “teaching children with ADHD”. This is the best source I have seen so far for teachers that have students with ADHD. It provides information on how to introduce, conduct, and conclude lessons. It also gives excellent knowledge about individualized instructional practices, how to help the student have organization and study skills, behavioral intervention techniques, and classroom accommodations (seating arrangements and instructional tools).

                                      Children Book Reviews for ADHD

1.Waiting for Mr. Goose by Laurie Lears is a great book for young children who are recognizing that it is hard for them to be still. It is about a little boy named Stephen who finds a wounded goose. He wants to help the goose but expresses that he doesn’t have the patience to trap the goose himself. With encouragement from his parents, Stephen is able to succeed at the task. This is a great book for children to read with their parents because the symptoms of ADHD are portrayed through the character of Stephen. The child may be able to easily identify with the feelings in the book and their parents can talk with them about it.

2.The Behavior Survival Guide for Kids by Tom McIntyre is a great book for children that have behavior issues as a result of ADHD. This is a guide for older elementary students and maybe even middle school students. Some of the topics include: ways to get along better with teachers, ways to help yourself make good choices in school, ways to help the adults at home help you, seven winning ways to work toward positive change, and why they may be treated differently. Parents may also want to read this so they can help guide their child in understanding what the book is saying. It may also give insight to what questions might be going through a child head that is in this position. If a teacher notices that one of her students is having behavioral issues, this would be a great book to talk to the parents about.

3.My Friend Has ADHD by Amanda Doering Tourville is geared toward younger children. It is about a little boy who has ADHD and what he does to help his friend. For example, he will give  little reminders when they are not suppose to be talking and he will play hand games with his friend in the lunch line while they are waiting.  There are little fact boxes about kids with ADHD at the bottom of the pages that may have to be read with someone older. The content in the fact boxes seem to be a little harder than the story. This would be a great book to read to a child who has a friend with ADHD but isn’t quite sure how to handle them. A teacher could even read it to the whole class if the class is having a hard time accepting or understanding a child with ADHD in the classroom. I also think this book can encourage children to look at the positive side of everyone and to be accepting.

4.The A.D.D. Book for Kids by Shelly Rotner and Sheila Kelly is a great book for younger (elementary) children to read that actually have ADHD. There are lots of pictures and very few words on each page. It can be read quickly. This book is full of quotes from children about what their ADHD is like. It also has a few encouraging statements mixed in. This would be a book to read when a child that has ADHD is feeling down about their disorder. It will let them know they are not alone and it encourages them to seek help or let others help when needed. At the front of the book there are 2 pages that are for parents and teachers. It provides brief information about ADHD and some studies done in the 90’s.

5.Miss Little’s Gift by Douglas Wood is a good book for elementary students with ADHD to read, especially those that do not like how their teacher is pushing them a little harder than others. This book has potential to give children insight about how their teacher is actually trying to help them succeed. It would be a good idea for the child to read it with a parent to they can help the child understand the meaning behind the story. This also would be a good book for a teacher to read because it is based on a true story of how the teacher was so dedicated to this child’s success. This true story is about a little boy who was really struggling to read, among many other things. His teacher, Miss Little, had him staying after school every day to practice reading. In the beginning he hated this more than anything, but as time went on it became one of his favorite things to do. 

Chapter 3 Part 2 (in Friend)

- 4 of the most common collaborative activities concerning students with disabilities are shared problem solving, co-teaching, teaming, and consultation.
-Shared problem solving is the basis of the collaboration activities that school professionals undertake on behalf of students with disabilities.
-When professionals share a problem-solving process, it is much more complex bc the needs, expectations, and ideas of all the participants must be blended into shared understandings and mutually agreed-on solutions.
- it is important that all participants believe they can have an impact on the problem, that they feel accountable for the results of problem solving, and that they can contribute constuctively to resolving the problem (discover a shared need)
- Problem identification includes gathering info, compiling it, analyzing it, and reaching consensus about the nature of a student's problem. (identify the problem)
- brainstorming (propose solutions)
- evaluate the ideas by considering whether they seem likely to resolve the problem and are feasible. (evaluate ideas)
- who will take responsibility for each task, timeline for complexing all the taks and usually decide how long to implement the solution before meeting to evaluate its effectiveness. (plan specifics)
-keep some type of record documenting your efforts and how the intervention affects the student (implement the solution)
- evaluate outcomes
-Co-teaching occurs when two or more educators -one a general education teacher and the other a special education teacher or other specialist- share the instruction for a single group of students, typically in a single classroom setting.
- different approaches = one teach one observe, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, teaming, one teach one assist
- Teaming- teams are formal work groups that have certain characteristics. They have clear goals, active and committed members, and leaders; they practice to achieve their results; and they do not let personal issues interfere with accomplishment of their goals.
- team participant roles -
             -your first role is a classroom teacher - contribute understanding of what students w/o disabilities are accomplishing in your grade or course, knowledge of the curriculum and its pace, and a sense of the prerequisits of what you are teaching and the expectations for students likely to follow the next segment of instruction.
             -your second role is the contribution you make through your personal role
             - your third role is a team role - as an effective member you will recognize your strengths and use them to enhance the team; you also will be vigilant so your weaknesses do not interfere with the team's accomplishing its tasks
-team goals- team goals are often assumed or too limited; 2 types of goals = taks goals and maintenance goals
-Consultation - is a specialized problem-solving process in which one professional who has particular expertise assists another professional who needs the benefit of that expertise.
-the goal if interaction is to help you resolve a problem or deal with a concern, not to foster shared problem solving in which both or all participants share the problem.
- Frame of reference - totality of the other person's viewpoint that is based on her background, experience, education, and even work history in schools.
-Parents reactions to their child's disability
                  -Grief
                  -Ambivalence
                  -Optimism
-Family-Centered Practices - approach for working with families based on the notion that outcomes are best for students when their families' perspectives are respected, family input is sincerely sought, and families gain information that can assist them to make the best decisions for their children.
- Understanding your working relationship with paraprofessionals- you have a key role in setting expectations for a paraprofessional who may work in your classroom.
- 2 general guidelines for working effectively with paraprofessionals
                      -paraprofessionals generally enjoy working with students and want to participate actively in that process, and they should have the opportunity to do so
                     - paraprofessionals always complete their instructional assignments under the direction of a teacher who either has already taught the info or has decided what basic work needs to be completed; they should not take place in the initial teaching and should not make instructional decisions

Chapter 3 Part 1 (in Friend)

-As schools increase inclusive practices, the working relationships among all the adults involved in the education of students with disabilities becomes critical.

-Professionals in inclusive schools usually assert that collaboration is the key to their success in meeting the needs of all students.

-Collaboration is how people work together, is a style professionals choose to accomplish a goal they share

-True collaboration exists only on teams when all members feel their contributions are valued and the goal is clear, when they share decision making, and when they sense they are respected.

-Key attributes to defining collaboration:

 is voluntary

 based on parity (individual contributions are equally valued)

 requires a shared goal

 includes shared responsibility for key decisions

 shared accountability for the outcomes (whether positive or negative)

  based on shared resources (each teacher participating in a collaborative effort contributes some type of resource. This contribution increases commitment and reinforces each professional’s sense of parity)

 its emergent (want participants to have shared decision making, trust, and respect among participants)

 prerequisites for collaboration:

 reflecting in your own personal belief system (for collaboration to occur, all the people participating need to feel that their shared effort will result in an outcome that is better than could be accomplished by any one participant, even if the outcome is some what different from what each person envisioned at the outset.)

refining your interaction skills (you need effective skills for interacting, 2 major interaction skills: communication skills and steps to productive interactions, *the most needed interaction process for you as a teacher is shared problem solving*)

contributing to s supportive environment (administrative support is important especially principals, these people can raise staff awareness of collaboration by making it a school goal and distributing information about it to staff.

Chapter 2 (in Friend)

Chapter 2                                                                                                                                               Kaylan Penland

-          Special education teachers are the professionals with whom you are most likely to have ongoing contact in teaching students with disabilities. They are responsible for managing and coordinating services a student receives, including writing and implementing the individualized education program (IEP).

-          Types of other special education help: consulting teacher, resource teacher, inclusive specialist/ support facilitator, itinerant teacher, transition specialist, job coach, special education teachers/special services teachers/intervention specialists.

-          A teacher will also have contact with many other types of services and specialists: school psychologists, counselors, speech/language therapists, social workers, physical therapists and occupational therapists, adaptive physical educators, nurses, administrators, paraprofessionals.

-          Whenever appropriate, students with disabilities also should be active participants in decision making about their own education. Self-determination – they (the student or a special need child) can directly state their needs and goals and learn to advocate for themselves.

-          The teacher (you) play a key role in deciding whether a students should be evaluated for the presence of a disability.

-          The teacher needs to have a clear concern for the child to seek help or begin a process.

-          There needs to be a chronic pattern negatively affecting learning. And keep in mind that child do go through things that will knock them off balance for a while.

-          Watch to see if the situation gets worse over time

-          Compare the child you have a concern for to the other children

-          Communicate your own observations and try your own interventions:

                        Contact the parents (you can find out what the child is like at home and have the parents become monitors as well)

                       Contact colleagues (if you’re unsure get another professional to sit in and observe)

                       Try simple interventions ( move students seats, different teaching strategies, make tests easier for students to follow, give the student one part of the assignment at a time to not overwhelm them, see how much help the child needs)

-          Intervention assistance team – group of professionals, including general education teachers, that analyzes the strengths and problems of referred students to identify strategies to address the problem. If not successful this team may recommend that a student be assessed to determine special education eligibility.

-          Response to intervention (RTI)- an approach for the identification of learning disabilities based on whether student learning progress improves or fails to improve after the student receives increasingly intense, research-based interventions; the latter may be an indication of a learning disability.

-          P.g. 51

-          Multidisciplinary plan – team including teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents who assess a student’s individual needs, determine eligibility for special education, and develop the IEP .

Chapter 1 (in Friend)

Chapter 1

-          When talking about Thomas, his grades were not mentioned. His acting out could have been from boredom. He seems pretty smart when it comes to terminology. I feel like they should have done more observations on him and record keeping before going to autism as the reason.

-          I think that Angel’s story goes to show how much a child with such a disability, can accomplish. Due to the fact that Angela had support at home and at the school, she was able to be successful. Also, the guardian and school professionals were able to build a relationship that a loud them to work together = teamwork.  http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resource_infoBrief/nichcy_org_pubs_factshe_fs4_pdf.html This website has a really good and quick explanation of down syndrome. IT also talks a little bit about how the school system deals with these situations, especially as soon as the children are diagnosed.

-          When I was in one of my field experiences I saw some mainstreaming. The special needs children would join the regular class for a certain period, and were buddied up with someone. The immediate positive thing I saw was how responsible the non-special needs children became once they received their buddy for the time. I think that it also teaches them respect for one another even though they are different, and this is something they will defiantly need outside of school.

-          Whenever I think about or a professor is discussing the Brown v. Board of Education case, the topic is colored children integrating. Reading about it further in this book has made me realize that it affected other diverse groups including special needs children.  http://www.nichcy.com/ - when I went to this site I saw how there were still many lawyers out there that are here to protect the disabled of all ages, which is good.  However, these days people unfortunately abuse the system.

-          As  I’m thinking and reading about all of the different court cases that deal with special needs children going to school, I am reminded of my aunt. She has cerebral palsy and is either in a wheel chair or on crutched.  So back then, before all of these acts were brought up she probably wouldn’t have been allowed to go to a regular school. She went to college and then continued with a master’s and now she is a speech pathologist, helping children with special needs.

-          When dealing with special needs children I think that the cross-categorical approach has a good point to it. This is “where more attention is paid to students’ learning needs than to their labels” (Friends pg 2). I think this is so important because if you pay attention to what they needs then they might do better than they were ever expected. 

-          http://www.kidstogether.org/disability-respect.htm I thought that this link helped give some good quick tips about how to approach or more easily be around a person with special needs. Of course it doesn’t cover most things, but just a few tips for a person that has never really approached a person with special needs. I have never dealt with a deaf person so it was neat to read those tips. These tips are called the 10 commandments of etiquette for communicating with people with disabilities.